Mapes is right that the purported 30-year-old memos by Bush’s long-dead squadron commander have not been proved to be forgeries…

Yes, they have been proven to be forgeries. They have been proven beyond a reasonable doubt to have been produced on equipment not available in the era of President Bush’s military service. If there was any cause to sue in open court over the documents, any coherent jury would so find, and just because Mary Mapes is journalism’s O.J. Simpson doesn’t mean that serious writers should encourage her fantasy life to the detriment of their own credibility.